Lauaki expected to line up despite infection

Waikato Times

FRONTING UP: Chiefs captain Sione Lauaki is expected to play the opening Super 14 season game despite having an infected arm.

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An infected arm is bothering new Chiefs skipper Sione Lauaki but he is expected to front against the Sharks in Durban on Sunday as Ian Foster's side start a tour where they have targeted two wins.

Lauaki has an abscess on an arm after suffering a cut in last Friday's preseason loss to the Hurricanes in Rotorua.

Foster said the problem appeared to be much better on Tuesday as the Chiefs settled into the hot Durban conditions.

Lauaki has been named as captain of the Chiefs while regular skipper Mils Muliaina is rested for the first three matches that also take in the Lions in Johannesburg and the Western Force in Perth.

It's a testing road trip early for the Chiefs, traditional slow starters who overcame another sluggish start last year to make their first final.

Having beaten the Cheetahs and Stormers and snared a bonus point from the Bulls on last season's tour, they are looking for something similar to kick-start their new campaign.

"First and foremost the key is to play well, particularly in the challenging conditions we are playing in with the heat and humidity here," Foster said from the team base in Durban.

"But clearly we want points and if you pick up a couple of wins away on these sorts of tours you have done very, very well.

"But primarily we want to really build out game over these three weeks and play the game that we want to play. That's the key to building moment – it's not just about scrambling points, it's taking real confidence from the way you play which is important as the campaign goes on."

Foster believes he may have a full squad to choose from apart from Muliaina and star wing Lelia Masaga who is also back in New Zealand.,

The worry knee injury to backline utility Callum Bruce had handled the long day of travel to South Africa well.

"A decision will be made on him in the next 24 hours. It looks like medically he might be available but with 10 other fit backs we won't be taking any chances. There's a strong chance we will need to use all of the squad over the next three weeks."

Foster said the Chiefs had looked hard at their perennial struggles with starting this competition and hoped they could address that this time.

"I think we have prepared well. We have gone through a preseason where we didn't win any of our three games but believe we have finished up in a good frame of mind.

"We have deliberately tried a few things outside our normal parameters."

These included making sure all their warmup games were played on hot New Zealand afternoons, hoping to replicate the conditions they will face on tour.

While a tour first-up was a demanding start it was also a chance for this squad to bond with four or five new players facing their first trip to South Africa.

History certainly appears to be stacked against the Chiefs this weekend. After winning in the opening round of each of the first three Super 12 competitions  from 1996-98, incredibly the Chiefs have been a first round victor just once (in 2004) in the time since.

But Foster remains confident that with the core of last year's successful squad intact that the Chiefs can push on in 2010.

"There's a good feel in the squad and a nice settled look to it. The guys know how we can play and how we want to play."

- © Fairfax NZ News